Family trapped in apartment fire jumps from 4th floor

QUEBEC CITY, Canada (KABC) -- Heart-stopping video shows a family of three trapped inside an apartment fire as smoke and flames pour from the building in Quebec City, Canada Wednesday morning.

Sudden screams for help got neighbors to come running, but there was little they could do with the ferociousness of the fire.

Hot flames and thick smoke blocked the fourth-floor apartment's front door, so the family sought safety in a back bedroom.

But quickly the smoke and heat became too much.

The 10-year-old son was the first to jump out of the fourth-floor window as his anguished stepfather held him for a time before letting go.

Shortly after, the boy's mother also leaped for her life.

Then the man slowly climbed out of the window sitting on the ledge for a few moments as people below shouted encouragement.

As thick choking smoke billowed out the window, he suddenly let go, falling four stories to the snow covered ground below.

Luckily for the family, there was a large pile of snow that had earlier been shoveled off a sidewalk and piled up against the apartment building.

All three family members were hospitalized and doctors said they all will make a full recovery.